With the Festival at Sandpoint approaching quickly, there's even more reason to venture up to Sandpoint; that is, if the food alone hadn't already brought you there. The seasonal vibe of the vacation town is probably best captured at the Oak Street Court (317 Oak St.) with folks like Amie Wolf, the owner of Baconopolis, just one of the food carts found at this location.

Fruit wine may have gotten a bum rap with cheap, cloyingly sweet brands like Boone's Farm, but wine from something other than grapes offers an interesting alternative with almost limitless possibilities. And it's somewhat easy.

When Bill and Deb Weisgerber leased an old building on Garland Avenue in 2011, they planned to open a coffee shop. They also wanted to serve beer and wine for customers to enjoy while listening to live music at night, and after realizing it wouldn't cost too much more to get a liquor license that included spirits, they dropped the whole coffee thing to focus on creating their first bar — the Garland Avenue Drinkery.

How a longtime pizza shop owner and a veteran brewer gave birth to Bennidito's Brewpub

Chris Bennett took the long road to establishing a brewery. The longtime owner of Bennidito's Pizza on the South Hill, Bennett was toying with the notion of brewing his own beer after more than a decade of selling a well-curated tap list in his pizza shop.

After five years in Spokane Valley, Sushi Sakai moved to Clementine Square this spring, trading in an old, run-down building for an airy new space better suited to showcase the fresh, colorful traditional Asian fare. Sushi is the obvious attraction, and a recent visit featured a remarkably tasty Rainbow Roll that balanced salmon, shrimp, white tuna, ahi tuna and crab.

We ate almost every burger on the Zip's menu, and you're probably jealous about that

Spokanites have a weird relationship with Zip's Drive-Ins. First off, folks seem to be largely divided into two camps: those who love the local fast-food chain and those who don't, with the former mostly outnumbering the latter.

Eating sweets in moderation can be the perfect way to celebrate and enhance life's flavor — no matter what all of the sugar-hating documentaries, books and websites are saying right now. Ignore the naysayers, grab your favorite people and check out some of the most delicious and inexpensive (nothing above $4.50) treats in the Inland Northwest.

Deli counters offer just as many choices as any sit-down spot, and they're friendlier to your wallet and waistline

EEach year as Inlander staff sit down to brainstorm ideas for this annual special section, there's always one fervent request that arises — make sure to include some healthy food options among all the mentions of indulgent, greasy fast food.

How the time-tested favorites around the region compare to the newcomers

Ever notice that as soon as you sit down to eat in a social setting you invariably end up talking about food? Some people get all misty over memories of past meals, while others debate whether Timber Gastro Pub's pork belly-steak mix actually qualifies as a "burger," or does it have to be all beef, like Hudson's Hamburgers and Dick's?Whatever.

Insects buzzing in the distance, trees and tall grass bending in the summer breeze, ice clinking in a perspiring glass of handcrafted mint tea — these are the sounds Tirza Wibel drinks in while relaxing on the Green Bluff Grange front porch two weeks ago, a place of shady refuge from the oppressive heat. Sitting on a hard wooden bench, the tea entrepreneur explains her philosophy regarding the beverage: it shouldn't be gulped down in a minute.